Chapter 1034: Army of Shadows

The plain Strax had chosen was so far from Asgard that not even the mountains surrounding the city could be seen.

There were no nearby villages.

No important roads.

No dense forests that could accidentally be set on fire.

Just miles of open terrain, a few rock formations, and low hills scattered across the horizon.

Exactly the kind of place Strax needed for what he intended to do.

Samira looked around while keeping her sword resting on her shoulder.

"You brought us to the end of the world to test a gauntlet?"

"It’s not the end of the world."

"We flew for hours."

"Which is exactly why no one is going to complain."

Samira shot him an irritated look.

A few meters behind them, Lithara started laughing.

"He’s right. If he did this near Asgard, Monica would probably try to kill him before the creatures."

"She would," Albedo agreed.

The demoness remained with her arms crossed, watching Strax with a suspicious expression.

She had agreed to participate mainly because Lithara had explained what had happened over the past few days.

Hundreds of creatures killed.

Hundreds of essences absorbed.

Hundreds of shadows stored.

And an ever-increasing amount of demonic energy accumulated within the Gauntlet of Darkness.

Strax looked at his own arm.

The weapon was different.

The black plates still covered his hand and part of his forearm, but small violet lines appeared between them, pulsing slowly like veins. The chains had also become denser. Even while wrapped around his arm, they occasionally moved on their own.

Samira noticed.

"That thing got even uglier."

Strax raised his eyes.

"You’re still resentful."

"It’s still annoying."

"Then you two suit each other."

Samira moved her hand toward her sword.

"Want to say that again?"

"Later."

Albedo sighed.

"Can we finish what we came here for before you two destroy the plain fighting each other?"

Strax smiled.

"That’s exactly why we’re here."

He walked a few meters forward.

Lithara, Samira, and Albedo remained behind him.

The atmosphere changed immediately when Strax raised his right hand.

The energy accumulated within the gauntlet began to move.

Albedo lost her bored expression.

"That increased quite a lot."

Lithara nodded.

"More than three hundred creatures."

"How many exactly?"

Strax remained silent for a few seconds, sensing the presences within the weapon.

"I stopped counting after the swamp."

Samira looked at Lithara.

"He counted every single one until then."

"Unfortunately."

"Are you two finished?"

"No," they answered simultaneously.

Strax ignored them.

"I still haven’t found the gauntlet’s limit."

Albedo stepped a little closer.

"You said it was almost full."

"That was the impression I got."

Strax opened and closed his fingers.

"After the demonic beasts, the energy inside it became much denser. The shadows are still being stored normally, but there’s constant pressure now."

Lithara looked at the violet lines.

"And you want to empty it."

"I want to see what happens when I take everything out at once."

Albedo frowned.

"Everything?"

Strax nodded.

"All the souls, all the shadows, and all the energy the gauntlet can manifest."

Samira finally took the sword off her shoulder.

"That sounds like a terrible idea."

"That’s why we’re so far from Asgard."

"That doesn’t make the idea any better."

"But it makes the consequences less inconvenient."

Albedo brought a hand to her face.

"Sometimes I really understand Monica."

Strax started laughing.

Then he pointed toward the plain.

"I’m going to summon everything."

The expressions of all three women changed.

Strax continued:

"I want you to destroy everything."

Samira raised an eyebrow.

"Everything what?"

"Everything that comes out of this."

He tapped two fingers against the gauntlet.

"Don’t hold back. I want to push the shadows until they’re destroyed and observe what happens to the energy. If it returns to the gauntlet, I want to know how much returns. If it’s lost, I want to know how much. If the creatures start regenerating, I want to find out how long they need."

Lithara slowly nodded.

"You want to test the entire cycle."

"Exactly."

Albedo looked at the empty terrain around them.

"And if all of them attack at once?"

Strax smiled.

"That’s part of the test too."

Samira stared at him.

Then let out a long sigh.

"I thought we were going to train."

Strax turned his head.

"This is training."

"For your gauntlet."

"You’ll get to hit hundreds of things."

Samira fell silent.

She looked at the plain.

Then at her sword.

"Continue."

Lithara laughed.

"That was easy."

"I’m still irritated."

Samira drew her sword.

"But I can be irritated while cutting things."

Strax shook his head.

"Then get ready."

Lithara spread her wings.

Demonic energy began surrounding her body.

Albedo also moved several meters away, preparing herself for whatever might emerge.

Samira simply held her sword in one hand.

Strax took a deep breath.

Then fully opened his right hand.

"Let’s see what you’ve been storing."

The gauntlet responded.

The first pulse swept across the plain like an invisible wave.

The ground trembled.

The small stones around Strax began to vibrate.

The black chains uncoiled from his forearm and fell onto the ground.

One.

Two.

Five.

Ten.

They continued multiplying.

Each chain plunged into the shadow cast by Strax’s body, and the darkness beneath his feet began to expand.

Samira narrowed her eyes.

"That didn’t happen last time."

"No," Lithara replied.

Albedo took a step back.

The shadow continued growing.

Ten meters.

Fifty.

One hundred.

Within seconds, an enormous black stain covered a considerable portion of the plain.

Then the first pair of violet eyes appeared.

A wolf emerged from the darkness.

Then another.

And another.

Ten.

Twenty.

Fifty.

The Black-Fanged Wolves began emerging in groups, forming disorganized lines in front of Strax. Their bodies were composed of dense shadows, but their fangs, claws, and muscles looked almost physical.

An enormous pack leader emerged among them.

Then another.

Samira stared.

"This is..."

She didn’t finish.

A roar tore through the sky.

An enormous winged shadow emerged from the ground.

The first Wyvern spread its wings.

Then came the second.

The third.

The fourth.

The creatures began rising into the sky while others continued emerging from the darkness. Within seconds, dozens of Wyverns were circling above the plain, their violet eyes glowing against the sky.

Lithara raised her head.

"All at once..."

Strax was watching as well.

It was far more impressive than he had imagined.

And it still wasn’t over.

The black surface began to bubble.

The enormous demonic beasts from the swamp started emerging.

Long bodies.

Black scales.

Enormous jaws.

Demonic energy mixed with darkness.

One after another, the creatures occupied the plain.

The small shadow birds emerged last, flying among the Wyverns.

For almost a full minute, none of the women said anything.

An entire army stood before them.

Hundreds of creatures.

On the ground, packs of wolves formed a black mass stretching for hundreds of meters.

Among them stood the enormous demonic beasts.

Above, dozens of Wyverns partially covered the sky.

All motionless.

All waiting.

All connected to the Gauntlet of Darkness.

Albedo finally broke the silence.

"Strax."

"Yes?"

"You realize this stopped being a weapon a while ago, right?"

Strax looked at the gauntlet.

Most of the violet lines had disappeared.

The internal pressure had dropped drastically.

"I’m starting to realize that."

Lithara watched the creatures with a fascinated expression.

"How much are you spending to maintain them?"

Strax closed his eyes.

That was exactly what he wanted to discover.

"Almost none of my own energy."

Albedo immediately looked at him.

"What?"

"The gauntlet is sustaining all of them."

Strax moved his fingers.

Hundreds of heads turned simultaneously.

Samira looked around.

"That’s disturbing."

Strax raised his hand.

The Wyverns began circling faster.

The wolves lowered their bodies.

The demonic beasts opened their jaws.

Strax felt every presence.

Not individually.

Not anymore.

The creatures were organized into groups.

Pack.

Flock.

Demonic beasts.

He didn’t need to command every movement. He only needed to transmit a general intention, and they interpreted the rest using the preserved instincts of the original creatures.

Strax smiled.

"Interesting."

Samira pointed her sword at him.

"Stop admiring your pets."

Strax looked at her.

"In a hurry?"

"You said to destroy everything."

"I did."

Samira spun her sword once.

"Then tell them to attack."

Lithara laughed.

"You really were waiting for this."

"I crossed half a continent."

Samira assumed her stance.

"I’m not going back without doing something."

Strax looked at Albedo.

"Ready?"

She spread her black wings.

"Yes."

Then at Lithara.

The Queen of the Succubi smiled.

"Whenever you want."

Strax returned his attention to the army.

He raised his right hand.

Hundreds of violet eyes glowed simultaneously.

Then he closed his fist.

"Destroy everything."

The army advanced.

The plain exploded into motion.

The wolves were the first.

Hundreds of paws struck the ground simultaneously as the packs charged toward the three women.

Above them, the Wyverns spread their wings and dove.

The demonic beasts followed close behind, crushing stones and opening craters with their sheer weight.

Lithara soared into the sky.

Albedo disappeared in an explosion of demonic energy.

Samira remained still.

Strax watched.

She sighed.

"Fucking gauntlet."

The first wolf leaped.

Samira disappeared.

A line crossed the plain.

For an instant, nothing happened.

Then twenty wolves were cut in half.

Samira appeared in the center of the pack.

Her sword was still completing its movement.

"Let’s get this over with."

The wolves attacked from every direction.

Samira spun.

Her blade traced a perfect circle.

A wave of energy expanded around her.

More than thirty creatures were destroyed simultaneously, their bodies exploding into black particles.

Strax felt it immediately.

The energy returned.

Not all of it.

Part of it.

He narrowed his eyes.

"So that’s how it works..."

Another group charged.

Samira ran directly toward them.

Her sword passed through one creature.

Then another.

And another.

She wasn’t using the enormous movements she had preferred in the past. Every strike was short, precise, and lethal.

A head.

A neck.

A joint.

An energy core.

The shadows simply couldn’t touch her.

Above, Lithara fought the Wyverns.

Three creatures fired wind blades simultaneously.

She dodged the first, passed through the second, and answered the third with a burst of demonic energy.

The Wyvern exploded in midair.

Its shadow dissolved.

Strax felt another amount of energy return to the gauntlet.

Albedo appeared above another Wyvern and struck its back.

The creature fell.

Before it could reach the ground, Albedo fired a second blast and completely destroyed its body.

More energy returned.

Strax didn’t participate.

He only watched.

Felt.

Measured.

Each destroyed creature caused a different reaction within the gauntlet.

The weaker shadows returned quickly, but much less dense.

The larger creatures took longer.

The destroyed Wyverns remained as dormant presences.

Exactly as had happened during his fight against Samira.

Then he noticed something else.

The energy that didn’t return to the shadows wasn’t disappearing completely.

Part of it remained within the gauntlet.

Free.

Formless.

Strax smiled.

"So you recycle it."

A tremendous explosion interrupted his thoughts.

He raised his head.

Samira had just gone through one of the demonic beasts.

Literally.

She emerged from the other side as the creature’s enormous body split apart behind her.

Samira spun her sword.

No blood fell.

Only black particles.

Another beast charged.

Samira leaped onto its head and drove her sword directly into its skull.

The creature exploded.

She landed.

Three wolves leaped.

A single slash eliminated all of them.

Strax continued watching.

"She’s having fun."

Lithara flew past above him.

"Did you expect anything else?"

A Wyvern chased her.

Lithara turned in midair and fired a spear of energy into its mouth.

The creature’s head disappeared.

Strax felt the return.

More energy.

More destroyed shadows.

More free energy accumulating.

The battlefield began to change.

The more creatures were destroyed, the more the Gauntlet of Darkness vibrated.

Not because it was recovering exactly what it had spent.

Something was being transformed.

The shadows returned weakened.

But the free energy increased.

Strax looked at his own hand.

The violet lines were appearing again.

"Interesting..."

Samira heard him.

Even while surrounded by dozens of creatures.

She cut down two, dodged a third, and shouted:

"If you say ’interesting’ one more time without helping, I’m going to test this sword on you!"

Strax started laughing.

"You said you wanted to train!"

"I thought you were going to fight too!"

"I’m controlling hundreds of creatures!"

"That’s not fighting!"

A demonic beast tried to bite her.

Samira gripped her sword with both hands.

Draconic energy exploded around her body.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

She attacked.

The slash tore across the plain.

An enormous line of destruction appeared before her.

Wolves.

Demonic beasts.

Rocks.

Everything was cut through.

The wave continued for miles before disappearing over the horizon.

Silence.

Samira remained with her sword extended.

Behind her, dozens of creatures began dissolving simultaneously.

Strax felt an absurd amount of energy return to the gauntlet.

The chains trembled.

The violet lines glowed.

And something inside the weapon pulsed.

Once.

Powerfully.

Strax’s smile disappeared.

Lithara noticed immediately.

She landed beside him.

"What happened?"

Strax didn’t answer.

Another pulse.

The gauntlet became heavier.

Not physically.

Energetically.

The destroyed shadows continued returning, but their energy was being reorganized.

Compressed.

Refined.

Albedo landed on his other side.

"Strax?"

He slowly opened his hand.

A small sphere of darkness appeared above his palm.

It was tiny.

Barely larger than a coin.

But Samira stopped fighting.

Lithara took half a step back.

Albedo narrowed her eyes.

The pressure coming from that tiny sphere was far greater than it should have been.

Strax watched in silence.

The energy of hundreds of destroyed creatures was being compressed into something different.

Denser.

Purer.

Closer to the very essence of the Gauntlet of Darkness.

Around them, the remaining creatures continued advancing.

Samira looked at the army.

Then at Strax.

"Don’t tell me that thing just learned another ability."

Strax closed his fingers.

The sphere disappeared into the gauntlet.

He slowly smiled.

"I think it did."

Samira froze.

Her expression darkened.

Then she raised her sword.

"I hate that gauntlet."

Strax laughed.

"You haven’t even seen what it did yet."

"Doesn’t matter."

Samira pointed her sword toward the hundreds of remaining shadows.

"First I’m going to destroy all these things."

Then she pointed it directly at Strax.

"And then I’m going to destroy you."

Strax looked at the army.

Then at Samira.

"All right."

He raised his right hand.

The shadows roared.

"But finish the test first."

Samira smiled.

Her draconic energy exploded around her body.

"With pleasure."

And she charged again.